Khamzat Chimaev makes his much-anticipated return to the UFC octagon this weekend as he takes on Chinese knockout artist Li Jingliang. ‘Borz’ burst onto the scene and set a record for the least time taken to get to three wins in the UFC between July 16th and September 19th, 2020.
Ahead of his upcoming fight, ‘Borz’ gave his prediction for the highly anticipated bout between his former rival Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal.
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He said, “I hope I gonna fight with this guy (Edwards) soon. He have fight now. If somebody gets injured, I can jump in there also. It was like we were supposed to fight, but I think one day we gonna fight again.”
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‘Borz’ continued, “I think actually Leon going to win this fight, decision (against Masvidal)…. I don’t think he will fight with me after this fight. I think he is the next for the title.”
What happened to Leon Edwards vs Khamzat Chimaev?
After just a month in the UFC, Chimaev, with a 3-0 UFC run, was one of the biggest names in the sport. ‘Borz’ annihilated everyone the UFC placed in front of him. Therefore, after his third win, both the fans and Chimaev himself wanted a top-10 opponent for him in his next bout.
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However, the promotion found it extremely difficult to get a fight scheduled for Chimaev, and understandably so. Chimaev was a promising talent who was unranked at the time. He was a low reward, high-risk fight for the fighters at 170-pounds. Therefore, he did not find anyone to sign the dotted line.
Leon Edwards, who had been inactive for the better part of two years, offered to step in and face Chimaev. The fight between the two men was originally set to take place in December 2020. Unfortunately, ‘Rocky’ pulled out of the fight as he tested positive for COVID-19.
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The fight was rescheduled for January 2021, however, this time around it was Chimaev who contracted the virus and was forced to pull out of the bout. The third and final time that the UFC rescheduled the fight was for March 2021. Unfortunately, the lingering effects of COVID-19 meant that Chimaev had to pull out of the fight.
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